Few places are more familiar to us than our homes. This is where we head after hard days, happiness, and heartbreak. You probably like to think you know every corner, every creek, and every possible thing that needs attention. But, can you ever really know a place to that extent? We’re not saying your home’s been lying to you, it’s just that those familiar walls might not have been quite as open about their realities as you’d like to imagine. Unfortunately, no one likes hidden property issues; nasty leaks or expensive repairs that hit at a moment’s notice are sure to put off your one true home. But you can overcome that by simply encouraging your house to share its innermost secrets in the following vital ways.
# 1 – Invest in a Survey
Nothing brings hidden property issues out in the open like a well-selected survey. While these are undeniably most popular when you’re in the process of buying a house, different types of surveys can be invaluable for improving your property knowledge at any time during homeownership.
Surveys become especially important if you plan to renovate, extend or put up new fencing near your property, but how about if you get a niggling feeling that there’s too much you don’t know about your home? They can be fantastic for that purpose, too, and a straightforward survey shouldn’t cost you any more than around $700 (though costs can be slightly higher in areas like Oregon and New York).
Unfortunately, there isn’t one survey that’s guaranteed to lay everything about your property bare, but surveys you might want to choose between if you’re concerned about certain hidden problems include –
- As-built surveys: As well as broadly considering property lines, as-built surveys provide a detailed description of a building’s structure, including everything from your home’s position to the location of underground utilities.
- Land surveys: Land surveys focus more on the land your property is constructed on, and could uncover issues like unknown boundary disputes, property elevation problems, and more.
- Title surveys (ALTA surveys): Title surveys are another kind of land survey, but they cover a far broader scope of considerations, including boundary definitions, complete property mapping, property verification, and other things that could save you from surprises during any major works in the future.
# 2 – Get a Roof Inspection
You probably feel like you know every corner of your property. You spend the vast majority of your life here, after all! But, there’s one place in particular to look for hidden property issues, and it’s sitting directly above your head.
You guessed it – we’re referring to your roof. This is an area of your home that you probably just don’t get the chance to see all that often, and we’re sorry to say that our homes often like to trip us up over this blind spot. From broken shingles that stay hidden in our gutters, to moss that sneakily grows beneath roof tiles, the first you’ll know of these issues will probably be when you’re already experiencing leaks and other unpleasant issues.
Hence why, as soon as you notice signs like visibly missing tiles, it’s always worth investing in comprehensive roof inspections that bring everything out in the open. A quality roof inspection will include everything from your skylights to your fascia, and should provide you with a detailed report breaking down whatever professionals find while they’re up there. That way, your roof will never be in a position to deceive you again, and you’ll be able to address any problems before a complete roof replacement becomes necessary.
# 3 – Delve Into Your Property’s Past
Some people love to know all about their partner’s exes, while others prefer to start on a clean slate. The same is true with home ownership. Some people love to know their property’s origins, while others get freaked out at the idea that other people have ever slept in the same room. Unfortunately, opinions aside, you may want to delve into your property’s past for the simple sake of transparency and understanding.
Knowing when each element of your property came into being is especially important, as this is going to help you to schedule things like routine maintenance works or roof replacements (which should happen roughly every 20 years). In some cases, knowing about past owners can also help you to uncover potential areas of concern, such as building permission limitations or even hidden safety issues that could have caused problems.
Luckily, it couldn’t be easier to research your home’s past relationships. Forget stalking girls on Instagram, you can head straight to your government offices to find your home’s lot number, and any official records relating to it. The County Assessor’s office should also hold records of things like previous owners, while even a trip to the library could lead you to old news stories involving your home. And, of course, you’d be surprised how much you can learn abou hidden property issues from simply looking up your property online!
# 4 – Search for Secret Rooms
Sometimes, the secrets our properties keep are boring, bureaucratic things, or annoying setbacks like hidden roof problems. Other times, our homes could be hiding entire rooms without us ever knowing about it.
Now, we’ll open this point with a disclaimer – if you have no reason to suspect hidden rooms in your home, then there probably aren’t any. Sorry to disappoint, but you should understand that going in. But if you notice unusual doors that don’t lead anywhere, unexplained gaps on property blueprints, or strangely hollow walls, then this might be exactly what you’re dealing with.
While this might seem like it would be an unusual occurrence, homeowners discover secret rooms often enough that there are entire articles about precisely this online. And, they give a pretty clear idea of what you should do if you have secret room suspicions, including –
- Look out for irregular walls or unusual ceiling heights
- Use a stud finder in suspicious areas
- Check for concealed entrances or hidden staircases
- Remove paneling or wallpaper if you believe you’ve found a hidden room
It is important to note that, if you’re in doubt, you should always contact a professional before removing what could turn out to be structurally vital walls in your home. It’s also worth noting that, if a hidden room has been covered over for decades, it might not be the bonus habitable space you’re expecting. You may need to invest in full fumigations, and ensure to ventilate this space for extended periods. Over time, though, this could be the “hidden property issues” that keeps on giving.
# 5 Look Beyond the Surface
Along roughly the same lines, you can uncover your home’s secrets by simply looking behind what you see on the surface. After all, just because a wall looks fine on the surface doesn’t mean it’s not secretly crying out for essential repairs on its foundations, which you’d notice if you only looked out for those hairline cracks. Equally, just because your windows seem to be doing well doesn’t mean they aren’t suffering from issues like moisture buildup between the panes, which you would notice if you paid attention to telling condensation. The harder you look, the more you’ll know about your home, and the less easily it’ll be able to keep sneaky secrets from you!
Think you know your home? It might be time to think again when you try these essential techniques to uncover even the deepest hidden property issues.
